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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23120440">then she faced the sun</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/herwhiteknight/pseuds/herwhiteknight'>herwhiteknight</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>inktober 19 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game), RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crossover, F/F, blake was a shadow carja, i tried my hand at writing action, kinda., mostly just putting The Bees into the HZD verse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:02:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,212</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23120440</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/herwhiteknight/pseuds/herwhiteknight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Sun Ring had its reputation of being a place of bloodshed and sacrifice. But now, Blake was hoping that it would be the place of her salvation.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>inktober 19 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1517693</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>67</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>then she faced the sun</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>prompt was "ring"</p>
<p>can you believe im STILL doing this? wow</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The sun blazed high above Blake's head, nearly burning alive her as she stood above the crowd, on display and surrounded by heavily armed Shadow Carja. Her shackles cut deep and heavy into her ankles, her wrists, extremities long since chafed and bled raw from weeks of wear. Weeks of time spent in jail.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Turn your face to the sun, child," a sibilant voice sneered low in her ear, slipping under the sudden uproar from the crowd. "Look now, see that your fate is soon to be decided."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A hand that was somehow cold as iron seized her chin, yanking her face up from where she'd been keeping her gaze resolutely to the ground to see the spectacle before them. Metal glinted and shivered in the distorting heat as Blake took it all in, panic swelling in her bones.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Sun Ring.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She knew the stories, of course. Having splintered from the Shadow Carja after Helis seized control, Blake had witnessed the transformation of a place once designed to test the mettle of skilled hunters against wild machine-beasts into a place of slaughter and sacrifice. </span>
  <em>
    <span>As the Sun wills. </span>
  </em>
  <span>And it only got worse once Helis seized control of the military and declared that blood was the demand of the Sun.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blake had evaded them better than most, using skills passed onto her from her parents and by watching Nora outlanders forage things of the land as they made the long journey to Meridian. She also learned how to strip machines of useful resources from a particularly fierce red-haired woman with a strange spear and a sharp talent for the bow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But none of it mattered. They caught up to her in the end. And now she was standing beneath the Sun’s judgement, shackled and helpless.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Below, hulking machines prowled around the lone figure of her champion. A fierce warrior by reputation - Sun King Avad’s last stand, she was often called. The Sun Spear. Even though the king was just a figurehead by now, the little respect and command he had left was all because of this woman. A woman that Blake had only heard whispers of after deserting the Shadow Carja, and had grown to respect for her skill with virtually any weapon put in her hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A woman she had also grown to fear. Once.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blake’s family had betrayed the Sundom when she was very little, and she had grown up in shadows, learning to fear the armor of Carja guards. But that was when the Mad Sun King ruled, when he turned Carja soldiers into monsters and murderers and rapers. When entire villages were burned just because he commanded it, and for no other reason. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But even after the new Sun King took power, and brought Helis to heel (for a time), the anger did not die with the madness. And Helis still had a personal hunt of vengeance towards the Belladonna family.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And Blake had been the only one left. And now she was here, the fate of her life resting on bronzed shoulders and crowned by a mantel of golden hair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’d seen her fight before, of course. Even had to escape her and her soldiers on more than one occasion. But she’d only seen one woman take on the beasts that stood before the Sun Spear now and that woman had been fighting machines entire life. There was no hope for her. Blake knew she was as good as dead.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A long, low note from the Great Horn sounded, rattling Blake’s ribs and signalling the start of the trial. </span>
  <em>
    <span>The slaughter, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Blake grimaced, only keeping her eyes pinned to the scene below for the honor of the woman who was throwing her life away for her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not long now until I have your head on a spike, traitorous whelp,” Helis sneered above her, pointing to the charging machines. “Avad’s champion is no match for these glorious creatures… these weapons raised from the dust by the Buried Shadow itself! They have been blessed its power… and soon that power will end more than just her pathetic life today.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blake ignored him - a price she would’ve paid dearly for before had Helis already not assumed that her death was certain in the next few minutes. It was a small victory she granted herself as she set her jaw with as much dignity as she could manage as the beasts drew nearer below. She tried not to think of it as the last victory she would ever have.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A scream rose from arena, and Blake pulled her attention away from her worries for the moment. Death would only be certain if the Sun Spear lost. She had to have some hope, after all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Anxiety pooled in her gut as a cloud of sand and dust obscured the trial below, kicked up from the beasts’ mighty charge. And there was silence. Was it over already? Had she been too slow to dodge out of the way? Would the settling dust reveal Avad’s greatest champion impaled upon the tusk of a vicious machine?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But - </span>
  <em>
    <span>no</span>
  </em>
  <span>. A clang of metal through the dust, a bellowed battle shout that was lost amidst a beastly roar. She was still fighting. A sudden gust of wind tore through the ring, an ominous deathly whistle, blew back the dust and revealed her still standing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Helis hissed, and if Blake had taken her eyes off of the lone figure below, she would’ve taken satisfaction in the way that his expression turned sour at her survival.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blake watched as her champion, with her flaming golden hair, lifted her spear high up in the air as a salute to Blake. Behind her, the beast righted itself, and prepared another charge.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Look out!” Blake screamed uselessly, knowing that there was no possible way that her voice could’ve been heard. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The beast charged - this time unleashing a barrage of bullets from its top-mounted gun atop its back. But the Sun Spear rolled away with apparent ease, settling low on her knees as she lifted her spear to cheek. Cocked her arm back. And </span>
  <em>
    <span>threw</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The spear sailed through the air just as the machine turned around. The trajectory was </span>
  <em>
    <span>flawless, </span>
  </em>
  <span>shearing through its defenses and dismantling its gun mount, pinning the weapon to the ground and rendering its ranged offense useless. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blake felt her heart pound in her throat as the Sun Spear, now weaponless, faced down the giant. But Blake had a feeling that she wouldn’t be weaponless for long. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When the beast charged her again, she didn’t dodge off to the side or roll out of the way. Both her weapon and the machine gun were directly behind the incoming attack - and it looked like she had every intention of getting them back as quickly as possible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She faced the beast down until it dopped its head, levelling its horns directly at her. Blake might’ve screamed, might’ve shouted something as she watched her fate be decided right before her very eyes as the tusks impaled the Sun King’s champion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Except they didn’t.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before Blake could even process what was happened, the Sun Spear had </span>
  <em>
    <span>leaped</span>
  </em>
  <span>, grabbing onto the metal of the horns and launching herself up and over the beast as it charged towards her. She landed with a swift roll, hauling the machine gun into her arms. Braced it against her hip for stability. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And with the machine’s back turned to her still, she fired upon its unguarded flank. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The beast was defeated within mere moments afterwards, its own offense turned against it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No!” Helis howled, his defeat turned into an ungodly shriek in Blake’s ears. He rounded on her, wrapped his hand around her throat, lifted her high. “The Sun </span>
  <em>
    <span>demands </span>
  </em>
  <span>your blood sacrifice - it will not be denied your life! </span>
  <em>
    <span>I will not be denied this</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blake’s euphoria over her champion’s survival vanished instantly with the reality that she was still chained up, helpless, next to the most ruthless murderer the Sundom had ever seen. And that, no matter what the results of the trial would’ve been, Helis and his thirst for revenge and blood would see her life ended by the time the sun fell on this day regardless.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This,” Helis breathed in her ear, “is far more enjoyable than handing you over to the executioners. Your life is </span>
  <em>
    <span>truly </span>
  </em>
  <span>in my hands now - and I can watch the life fade from your eyes </span>
  <em>
    <span>up close</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Through her slowly blackening vision, she could just barely make out his sickly grinning face as he held her aloft like some kind of trophy. A prize. She scrabbled uselessly at his hand around her neck, the manacles around her wrists impossibly heavy. Weighing her down. Everything was weighing her down…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her last regret was that she would never be able to thank the warrior for putting her life in jeopardy for a woman she’d never met - and a traitor no less. And as her body grew weak, she forced herself to turn her head skywards, to face the sun who had been protecting her all her life, even when she was cloaked in shadow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sound of a sickeningly slick thud drove into her consciousness next, when she was sure she had already died - and she felt her body collapse onto the wooden platform beneath her feet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Somehow, she had survived.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Praise the Sun, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Blake thought dimly, as she fought the heaviness of her limbs as her lungs gasped for breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s not exactly what people call me, but you just about died, so I’ll forgive it - just this once,” a cheerful voice, feminine, spoke from somewhere above her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blake shoved her eyelids open, coughing as she regained her voice. “What?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All teasing disappeared as an arm wrapped around her shoulder and helped her upright. “Hey, hey. Alright, just take it easy, okay? My name is Yang.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blake blinked, slowly casting her gaze sideways at her saviour - and was somehow surprised by the presence of her golden haired champion. “Yang…,” Blake tried the name on her tongue. “Weren’t you just…,” she managed - </span>
  <em>
    <span>barely</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Her throat felt like it was beginning to swell and bruise. The handiwork of - wait. “He…,” she felt sluggish, exhausted, demanding too much of herself even as she merely went to look in the other direction.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Just a step away from them both, Helis’ body. With a spear impaled through his chest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll have to get a new spear now,” Yang grimaced in disgust. “Probably corrupted from his blood by now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And you…,” Blake struggled, her arm flopping outward in a vague and very useless gesture down to the arena floor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have rather excellent aim,” she shrugged, careful not to jostle Blake in her arms. “And then I climbed,” she finished when Blake’s glazed over expression radiated confusion rather than just simple oxygen deprivation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You were </span>
  <em>
    <span>very </span>
  </em>
  <span>quick on the mark, I’m quite impressed,” another voice - one that Blake vaguely recognized - sounded from behind them. A tall, redheaded woman, with her signature bow at her back, rounded Blake’s side, key in hand. “Should’ve known that Helis would’ve resorted to anything he possibly could to get his way. I’m sorry he hurt you,” she said, addressing Blake gently as she unlocked her manacles, the heavy metal clattering to the floor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll… be fine,” Blake rasped, as best she could. “Thank you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t be thanking me,” the red-haired woman - </span>
  <em>
    <span>Aloy</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Blake remembered now - said as she stood on Blake’s other side and helped Yang lift her to her feet. “Thank the woman who fought for you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As Blake took her first steps outside of Helis’ wrath, assisted but free all the same, she looked over at Yang and caught Yang looking at her with the most gentle expression she’d ever seen from anyone. “You fought admirably, champion,” she murmured - and maybe she was still a little delirious as her brain caught up on its stolen oxygen, but she could feel her heart beat a little faster the longer she gazed into Yang’s eyes. “You do me a great honor.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The honor is all mine, princess,” she replied, lifting Blake’s hand with her free one, and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But, I’m not-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The Sun King owes me a boon for serving as his champion today. I can request it so that your status is one that befits your beauty,” Yang answered, a mischievous grin lighting up her eyes and lifting her lips. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Gods</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Aloy exclaimed from Blake’s other side. Despite her literally being the support at Blake’s right side, she had honestly forgotten about her. “As smooth as that way, oh </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sun Spear, King Avad’s Champion</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I will leave if you two don’t save that romantic crap for somewhere that I don’t have to be around to witness it. Got it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yang’s jaw snapped shut as a blush deepened across her cheekbones, the tips of her ears going red. Blake just allowed a small giggle to slip out as she leaned a little closer into the crook of Yang’s neck. She almost died today - she could allow herself a little self-indulgence. Besides, with the champion called the Sun Spear and the woman with hair like fire, Blake would never walk in shadows again - not with the light at her side.</span>
</p>
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